April 2023 Potomac Intramural
2023 — Online, MD/US
Student Congress Judges Paradigm List
All Paradigms: Show HideQualified to the TOC in LD
I don't think you should worry about reading this too closely, I'll evaluate anything and evaluate arguments however you tell me to in round and I will try to be tab as possible but I do have biases which while I can try to keep them out of debate, some will implicitly be present and I feel like it would be better for me to make you aware of them rather than pretend they don't exist.
TL/DR: These are just my preferences as to what I believe is good for debate I won't default one way or another unless there is absolutely no pushback from either side.
Regardless, a ranking of how familiar I am with things:
Policy/K/T - 1
T-FW/K Affs - 1
Theory - 2
Phil - 2
Dense Phil/ Pomo read as an NC - 3/4
Tricks - 4/5
K Affs vs FW
- Been on both sides and these are my favorite debates to judge however I probably do lean slightly neg.
- CI's are good to resolve some offense and provide uqs for an impact turn but it's not necessary.
- 2N's need to do a better job winning the terminal impact to FW, don't overinvest into reading long blocks that explain why the aff is unfair/decks clash because let's be honest, they aren't gonna contest that most of the time, focus on implicating why that is important both in the context of debate and in the context of the affirmative.
- Framework 2nr's I've thought were excellent often use the same verbiage as the aff instead of using long o/v blocks.
- TVA/SSD to resolve some offense is good, even if it doesn't
- 7 minute 2nr's entirely on the case page often get confusing for me when they lack good judge instruction -- try and be clear as to what you are doing on teh case page before you get into the lbl
K
- good for larp v k
- bad for k v k (biased towards the perm + often get confused a lot); if I do end up unfortunately judging one of these, judge instruction is paramount. I will evaluate these debates generally knowing that theories of power are largely compatible. So, my ballot will be a reflection of differences between the aff and the alternative and the impact to those differences. If the difference between the two indicates the alt is worse than the aff, I vote aff. If the difference between the two indicates the alt is better than the aff, I vote neg.
- lbl > long o/v's
- Framework CI = you don't need an alt unless the aff says you do and winning links is sufficient if you've won framework
- Alts that result in the aff are fine absent a 1ar warrant why they aren't (being shady in cx is kinda annoying tho)
- Only understand cap, Moten/Harney, Warren (never read this in round), and a little bit of Baudrillard -- explanation is good.
- All the interactions that people consider "k tricks" should be implicated in the 1nc or else 2ar answers are justified (saying lines in the card make the claim most often doesn't really count)
LARP
- Like this a lot
- UQS prolly controls link direction
- all cp theory can be dtd granted a warrant
- hate reading cards and I will stay away from it as much as possible but end up having to read ev in most rounds.
- defense is underrated and can def be terminal if implicated as such (i.e: bill alr passed prolly is terminal)
- solves case explanation can be new in the 2nr as long as it was in 1nc evidence
- perm shields the link/cp links to nb -- explain these args to me! I'm not v smart/takes me time esp since I don't know the topic lit most likely
Phil
- Haven't read anything besides util/Kant and a little prag -- think it's hella interesting doe if that counts for anything
- Weighing is important, spend more time explaining your syllogism and why that excludes theirs.
- TJF's prolly o/w and are the move if I'm in the back
- weird complex ev mandates not-weird not-complex explanation
Theory
- Like this
- Weigh between standards
- low threshold to vote on rvis -- still need to justify them and w/e
- reasonability should be explained and is v strategic at times -- I will not vote on an RVI if you are going for reasonability obviously
Tricks
- will vote on these as long they are implicated fully in the speech they are read
- I can't flow for my life so like try and slow down a Lil bit
Evidence Ethics
- did pf for 2 years, cut cards weren't a thing, people paraphrased, the average card was shorter than T definitions, and evidence was sent via url's + ctrl F -- I really don't care at all about ev ethics until it's mentioned but i'm p sure my standards for ev ethics are very stringent so if you do call it out/stake the round on it in PF you will probably win 90% of the time
- if staking the round, that should happen the moment the violation is called out. -- don't read a shell and debate it out until the 2ar and then decide you wanna stake the round instead
(i.e: Miscut 1AC ev means you should stake the round immediately after you see it BUT at the very latest after 1nc cross)
Misc:
- I'm cool with post rounding -- not cool w/aggressive or toxic post rounding
- I am awfully new to LD (Started at strake my junior year) so clear judge instruction is really helpful
- Will disclose speaks, j ask
- Hate it when people steal prep (rip speaks)
- hate unclear signposting (rip speaks x2)
- Record your speeches in case audio cuts out
- if you say moo once in the round, I will bump speaks
- time yourself and stop at the timer.
My goal is to judge debates with the least intervention possible. This does not mean I do not have ideological convictions, but those can easily be overridden by good technical argumentation and execution. Debate is hard and I appreciate the time and effort debaters put into the activity. Given this, I have zero interest judging debates about anything other than efficacy of political advocacies. Treating ad hominems and ethics challenges as case negs is a terrible norm for the community and can almost always be resolved without using character assassinations to get the ballot.